verse_and_dimensionsfandomcom-20200214-history
User blog:Kolmogrov142 Oracle Tuto X/The simulation universe hypothesis part 1
Everyone has heard of or seen The Matrix trilogy; it's vast multidimensional themes lure us in like negative pole to a positive pole. The one theme in particular that I think most of us are interested in is the idea of a simulated reality or rather the possibility of our universe being a simulation. This idea has gained such a wide amount of attention that people are now started to call it the Simulation Hypothesis, for reasons that are obvious to at least 99.999% of us. The essential thing we need to understand is that simulating a universe using classical computers (i.e. computers using binary) is practically impossible since they can't encode various quantum states of the universe; in order to do that we need a quantum computer. A quantum computer is a computer which takes advantage of the quantum states of subatomic particles (such as leptons and protons) to store useful information. In a classical computer information is stored as 1's and 0's reflecting the Boolean 2 state system of logic which underlines the workings of classical computers. However in a quantum computer the information is stored in a slightly different form with the classical bits being replaced by something called qubits. These qubits or quantum bits as they are sometimes called act as a superposition of the states on an off, which means that they are technically on and off at the same time until interacted with. The next thing we need to understand is a little bit about the history and theory of this hypothesis in particular its connection to film, video game, virtual reality and music; as well as propaganda and advertisements. The earliest beginnings of the history of the simulated universe began roughly 100,000 in the Paleolithic age (Paleolithic means relating to the early stone age which began roughly 2.5 million years ago) when early modern humans started to represent their reality using cave paintings. When they painted these primordial masterpieces they were projecting their own outlook of reality (their own 'reality tunnel' as Timothy Leary would put it) onto the cave walls and thus they were in a way simulating their universe. As humanity developed culturally (the global culture of humanity) art began to become increasingly more and more sophisticated until it reached a peak in the Ancient Greek and Roman times. Magnificent statues and incredible paintings on vases and jars depicted homoerotic nudes and magnificent athletes in all their glory; allowed for a certain sense of realism to truly shine through. These Greeks weren't just making art for arts sake rather they were projecting their inner most sexual and physical pleasures into their works, thus they too can be said to have simulated their reality. Therefore art in all of its forms including dadaism and surrealism is simply a way in which the artist simulates their own personal reality whether that be physical or mental that fits into the framework of the universe. Thus it can be said that art is the science of simulating ones reality through creative or uncreative means; this of course leads us to the next point that of photography. Photography is another medium of simulation since it allows you to capture millenia of history in a single image; with a painting you can't always tell when it's from but with a photograph you can since a photograph is simply a frozen slice of time made out of light. If you take a photograph of the Eiffel tower you are simulating the Eiffel tower in the form of a picture of light; thus it can be said that photography like traditional art is simply another way of simulating the universe through creative or uncreative means. This of course leads us to the next point that of thinking about films in the same way that we have thought about photography and art. In a photograph the images are still, unmoving, unchanging and quite frankly dull but in a film the images or rapidly moving to create the illusion of motion (Zeno anyone). This allows for films to give us one extra vector over photographs the vector of motion,however this isn't the only vector that film has in regards to simualting our personal universe. For film also uses lighting, theme, plot, characters, mood, setting and atmosphere to create a truly lifelike and stunning or sometimes utterly dreadful visual experience. Therefore it can be seen quite clearly that the medium of film is simply another way of simulating subjective reality. From here we divert to a less abstract method of simulation that of video games which links to all of the other media in the sense that video games or rather games in general are just another form of art. The type of games we are interested in the moment are not sporting games (which can be very fun to watch) but rather board games and role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. To star off with we need to establish a suitable defintion of a game. A game will be defined as a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict,defined by rules that result in a quantifiable outcome. Therefore it can be said that games are a way of simulating conflict and real life situations through a usually fun, cooperative, interactive experience which make films look like photographs in comparison. Now that we have set out a suitable definition of what a game is we need to define some terms which will prove useful in understanding how games relate to the idea of simulated reality. First off all games need tools whether that be a board, a computer or a ball it doesn't matter all that matters is that a games uses tools. The tools of a game are used to abstractly represent various abstract concepts such as conflict and destruction through such tools as chess pieces representing meadieval military figures and dice representing 6 state probabilistic machines. Once we have got the right tools we need to establish some rules. These rules are used to prevent games from becoming to unexciting since the only thing that none of us can stand is a dull game and all good games require good rules. The rules of a game should allow for maximum creative freedom within the bounds of the tools available but at the same time prevent such atrocities as OP characters and quick hacks; which allow for the game to be completed without a challege. Thus all games must be under my defintion of an ideal game present some sort of a challenge to the players involved. Skipping forward the modern era traditional games are now being replaced with a more direct method of simulation called video games. This relatively new medium allows for entire worlds or even entire universes to be created within the game giving us a glimpse of what a true simulation is like; this is most apparent in computer games such as Minecraft or Roblox where we interact with other people from around the world to simulate constructions from the deepest depths of our imagination. The next step in the development of the simulate universe hypothesis comes in the form of virtual reality which creates the backbone of how we actually go about simulating the universe. As we are nearing the end of this first part I think I will create a sequel to this first part called part 2 in order to fully establish this notion of virtual reality and how it relates to the simultion hypthesis. Category:Blog posts